The Online Photographer

Looks like today's post will be late...my car suddenly went on the fritz yesterday and I have to deal with it. All the warning lights went off. Lights I didn't even know were on the dashboard lit up. The Service Manager at the dealer said, "we call it the Christmas tree of lights." Apparently in Acuras when one goes off they all go off.

This makes perfect sense, because I just had the car in for servicing and a general over-all inspection a month ago. Not even.

When you live in the country, it's not smart to have one vehicle. Borders on dangerous, actually. You don't need five, like one of my friends has. He bought his second full-sized pickup just because it was a great deal. New widow, didn't care about the money, just wanted it out of the driveway. Some of my friends buy beater used cars for $500 to use as a backup, and the damn things run on and on like perpetual motion machines, sipping oil and gas and emitting nary a murmur of complaint; but the universe would never let me get away with that. If I bought a $500 car it would need $1,500 worth of work within a week.

So I'm off to Rochester, three hours there and back, hoping whatever's wrong doesn't go more wrong on the way. On the good side, comment posting is all up to date. Maybe backups should be our topic of discussion today. Not computer backups necessarily. Usually when we talk about computer backups we hear from the minority subset of the readership that has that problem overmastered; all those who do not maintain deferential silence. But I used to distinguish pros from enthusiasts (advanced amateurs, hobbyists, art photographers, fans, devotees, camera addicts—c'mon, everyone knows what an enthusiast is, despite recent comments from people saying the term is undefined) by how many cameras they take to an important job. Hobbyists take their one good camera. Pros take two. They always have a backup. Do you have a backup? Is it kept in the closet or do you take it with you?

I don't have a backup. If my camera goes on the fritz somehow (usually it's operator error or poor planning, run-down battery, filled-up card), well, that's it for that day.

Wish me luck on my odyssey. My prediction in advance, not knowing what's actually wrong: the bill will be $600...and, if not, more.

Mike

P.S. Oh, and about comments: It's true that I need to keep comments current, but sometimes comments come in too late, too. Caleb Courteau's comment on "Honesty: Isn't it Refreshing?" would have been a Featured Comment, but it only came in this morning and the post is already three days old. Most people don't go back to look for new comments on older posts, so a lot of great comments get buried because of timing. And now I had really better get my ass in gear and get going. Turns out it takes a lot of time to not write a post!

Original contents copyright 2024 by Michael C. Johnston and/or the bylined author. All Rights Reserved. Links in this post may be to our affiliates; sales through affiliate links may benefit this site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. (To see all the comments, click on the "Comments" link below or on the title of this post.)

Featured Comments from:

Vijay: "I’m an amateur enthusiast and I take a backup camera whenever I’m taking a trip of seven days or more that requires a significant outlay. If I don’t have a functioning camera, the airfare, lodging, etc. has significantly lower ROI. Phones are not a backup, yet."

Doug Anderson: "I have no backup car. I always carry my phone with the Uber app. And in 70+ years of using all-mechanical, i.e., no battery, film cameras I have never carried a backup camera body and I have never found myself in a situation where having one would have helped."

Craig Beyers: "When I shoot sports (and events), I have a Canon R6 as primary, a 7D Mk II as secondary (i.e., the prior primary), and an iPhone 13 Pro Max. I typically use the 7D and an EF 24–70 ƒ/4 only during warm-ups and player intros and occasionally after an event for photos of families, then switch to the R6 with a EF 70–200 ƒ/2.8L with a 1.4x converter and the monopod for the action shots. The iPhone is my primary overview/ultra wide angle photo camera and it’s always in a holster on my waist. I bring the other cameras and a monopod in a ThinkTank roller bag with additional lenses and memory cards. For personal photo work I tend to restrict the kit to one camera and my iPhone, mostly to limit the carry weight. This works for me."

Stephanie Luke: "I'm so paranoid that besides having a couple of backups of an image file—on computer and external hard drives—I don't even consider it a finished picture unless I have printed it and it's sitting in my flat file. If I lose it there, then the house has burned down, and it's the least of my problems!"

robert e: "I have more 'backup' tripods, camera bags and camera straps than I know what to do with."

Ken Bennett: "When we got the 'Christmas tree' of lights, it was because a squirrel had spent a week chewing up the wiring inside our truck engine. In a Toyota, one fault means that lots of other things get turned off as well, like the cruise control, and so lots of warning light suddenly show up even though they aren't indicating actual issues, just that a feature was shut down due to the actual problem. The dealership service writer just wrote one word on the service form: 'rodent.'"

Mike replies: My problem was a bad brake part that ruptured and drained all the brake fluid. (I drove all the way to Rochester with almost no brake fluid.) The car will be visiting the dealership for three days, after which it will kick me in the wallet to the tune of $1,070. Told you it would be more than $600.

F Hall: "In 1980 when I was using a Leica M I had an Olympus OM something as a backup camera since I could not afford two Leicas. One day I went to use the Olympus and it was gone. I asked my wife of a few months if she had seen it. She said she gave it to her brother as I never used it. He lived in Canada and we were in Trinidad so I could not retrieve it. I explained the whole backup camera thing. The camera disappeared as the brother probably thought it was worthless since it was never used. Still married, did not want to change wives and have to go through that again!"